Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-04-12
IRONING
MOundsville Citizens Going to Work in
Earnest
EVIDENCES OF COMING PROSPERITY.
Natural Gas On Tap in Large Vol
umeS,
And new WELLS TO GO DOWN
A Glance at the Town, and Talk Of Its
Future.

Future.
The greatest of English poets announced
it as his maturely- considered opinion that
'sthere is a tide in the affairs of men
which, when taken at the flood, leads on
to fortune" The assertion is true one,
and it might have been added by the Bard
that the opportunity which, once in a
lifetime, comes to the individual, presents
itself as well to communities, cities and
nations. The clear-headed and keen in
diyidual and the wide-awake and ener-
getic community quickly recognize the
favorable conditions under which added
wealth and prosperity may be gained, and
at the oppOrtune mOment-at the flood
tide-the favOrs of the tickle goddess
Chance are, to use q hOmely Simiie,
worked for all they are worth, and
the result is soon apparent to every casual
observer. The golden M nent has arrived
for Wheeling and the Sities and towns
which cluster in the Oh 20 Valley around
her, and on every side Zone can see an
awakening to the grand disabilities with
in our reach, and the gatltring together of
energies for marked andfnOtable advance
in all that goes to make &great industrial
,a,,tra opI a prpSnarnua o,NI boDny nannlp
This disposition to sieze the golden OPP
pOrtunity presented is not alone confined
to Wheeling, but is equally we'll defined
in the outlying towns up and down the
Ohio, within q radius of twelve or fifteen
miles, and nowhere is there shown more
energy and business activity than in
Moundsyile. The citizens 81 the metrOp-
oils Of Marshall county ere fully per-
suaded that they have remained in the
background long enough, and with the re-
cent discovery Of natural gas there has
been developed a well-Tounded and uni
versal belief that better things are in store
for the community As consequence
strangers who have visited the place with
in the last ten days or two weeks hardly
recognized the town at first glance. Energy
seems to have been infused into every body;
manufacturing projects are bciu" talked
over; real estate is being asked for; i'm
prOyemcnts, private and public, projected
and put under contract, an. the pOpula-
ton generally seems to haze rather sud-
denly arrived at the concll,iOn that the
present is Il good time Ia elSvw their way
to the front and stay therc.r
All this has been the dire,2 result OF the
oil and gas discoveries of 1.-THE past six
months, added to the firm tnd universal
belief that the present res lts attained
through the manipulation Os the drill and
sand-pump are but ioretaSte of what is
coming in the same line 4 here is little
room to doubt the existence Sf oil and gas
in large quantities in the Immediate viCin-
ity OF the town, and ut Il moderate depth.
All the indications point 10 this being the
case, and gas and oil men show by their
heavy Investments and the tenacity with
which they hold on to old leases and the
pcrsistency with which they seek new ones
that they hayean abiding fifth in the sur
rounding territory. The oil and gas pool
seems, from present indications, TO be a
long and comparatively narrow strip, run
ming from northeast TO southwest, and
touching the river ut the point whereOn
the town of Mcuidsville StaIds. Its gen.
eral trend, from the town is in the direc-
ton of TaylOrstown and tn Washington
county field, and the OpiIsiOn is general
that the sands from which 81 much is ex-
pected are but a legitimate continuation of
the heavy producing field thiity miles east
of this city.
The first hole punched in the earth in
the vicinity of Moundsville was put down
about three years ago, on tie Col. j. II.
Lockwood farm, about quarter of u
mile below the southern corporation line
of the town. The operating company had
hut limited capital, and after sinking the
hole n few hundred feet 1t was given up
and the casing drawn. Ever since that
time natural gas has escaped from the hole
in considerable quantities, chOked up as it
is with earth and rubbish, and when lit
with Il match the familiar blue flame
shoots up to q heighth of several feet from
the ground.
Last summer Pittsburg oil men, who
had faith in the territory contiguous to
MOundSville, leased large amount of land
in the valley Of little run east of the
town, and putting up n derrick on the J.
b. Hicks farm, set drill in motion. At
"a depth of | ,427 the OIL sand was struck,
and in q short time the well filled up with
fine quality of petroleum. The derrick
was at once boarded up, and as soon as
possible a four hundred barrel tank was
erected and boarded in. From this tank q
pipe line was laid to the b. & 0. Camp
meeting switch, and since this the well
has been q pumper. The owners give it
out that she produces but eight
barrels q day, but one can scarcely
meet q Liam in MOundsville who isn't
sure il does much better than the figure
above given. The well is about one and
a half miles from town. Half mile
further up the same run upon which this
well is located one comes to the derrick of
the big gaSSer, struck a few weeks ago.
The well is owned by Joseph Craig and is
located on the Wesley Riggs place. The
hole is situated ut the bottom of a marrow
and deep rayine, and the well is a fine
gaSSer OF more than 800 pounds pressure.
Although the surface of the land at this
well is l25 feet higher than at the oil well,
half mile further down the valley, the
we'll is but little over /, 300 feet deep.
This shows the oil well is at or near the
bottom of the anti-clinal, while the gas
well is at OF near the top.
This we'll was commenced on December
10 last, and was drilled-in in sixty-two
days, being finished February Is. The
pressure is not definitely known by out
Siders, but is not less than 300 pounds to
the square inch, and may be much more.